Rock

For a guy who writes most of his songs on the couch of his Hawaiian home and records them in a solar-powered studio, Jack Johnson sure sounds despondent on his fifth studio album. The electric guitars and cynical moods that surfaced on 2008's "Sleep Through the Static" are amplified here in bold strokes. Crashing rhythms and fuzzy riffs push through songs such as "You and Your Heart" and "To the Sea," and creeping paranoia colors the mildly psychedelic "At or With Me." On "The Upsetter," his scratchy reggae grooves give way to some of his darkest lyrics: "You cannot sleep/ Even when you're asleep." It's thrilling to hear Johnson come to grips with the world outside his beach hut, but too often here he can't help reverting to type, falling back into the snoozy acoustic jams that waft away even before the music stops.